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Tim Brando: Fox Has Been ‘So Good To Me’

“FOX actually asked me ‘Hey Tim, is there anybody you’d like to have with you’. I said yes, Spencer’s contract is up over at CBS and they went out and hired him.”

Ricky Keeler

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Legendary play-by-play broadcaster Tim Brando has had one of the rare distinctions of working at ESPN, CBS, and FOX. He also has had the chance to work with the same partner at two different networks, which is not something that is very common.

Brando was a guest on the Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre podcast on Wednesday. During the segment, Brando talked about how when Joel Klatt moved up to the lead broadcast booth on FOX’s college football coverage in 2015, the network asked Brando who he wanted with him in the booth. His answer was to go bring in someone else he was very familiar with at CBS before FOX hired him in 2014, Spencer Tillman.

“When Joel moved up to work with Gus, FOX actually asked me ‘Hey Tim, is there anybody you’d like to have with you’. I said yes, Spencer’s contract is up over at CBS and they went out and hired him.”

Brando worked with Tillman calling college football games on CBS and in studio shows as well. This year, the two of them will begin their 24th year working together in some capacity over the last 25 years, which is quite the accomplishment.

When FOX called Brando to join their team in 2014 after CBS let him go, he was excited for another opportunity and he saw the vision and the growing college football coverage that the network was planning.

“In so many ways, FOX has been so good for me. When I left CBS abruptly back in 2014, I think a lot of people including me thought Oh gosh, I think I’ve earned enough checkmarks that I should land with a good parachute at a good place.

“I was a free agent for about 8-9 months. When FOX called, I was so excited. Their portfolio was growing, but it wasn’t nearly what it is today. They were visionary. I think they were thinking we are going to grow our college football portfolio. We need more people. We need to add some greater depth. Maybe some people that have a little more understanding of the history of the game. It’s not always popular for a young television executive to hire a 58-year-old guy that has worked at 3 different networks, but FOX did and I really owe them a lot.”

Brando definitely brings that to any college football game that he calls and he will begin his 9th season at FOX this year in addition to the college basketball game he broadcasts as well. 

Sports Online

Dan Le Batard: ‘Does Sports Media Care if Interviews Are Done Well?’

“An exclusive interview with Ja Morant, who hasn’t talked to anybody after his controversy, is going to get eyeballs, so it doesn’t matter how good it actually is.”

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Mike Greenberg had praise for Jalen Rose this week. He said that no one but his ESPN colleague could have handled the interview with Ja Morant that has been airing on the network. Dan Le Batard has the exact opposite opinion of what he saw.

“What I saw was soft and didn’t seem to serve anybody except ESPN,” Le Batard said on his Thursday show. “This seems to be a lot of people around the economy of basketball and Ja Morant orchestrating an interview so Ja Morant can move onto the next stage of his branding.”

Whereas Greenberg thought the shared experience of an NBA career made Rose more likely to get answers from Morant, Le Batard said it created a problem. He accused Rose of letting Morant get away with using “talking points” in lieu of answering any actual questions about the string of erratic behavior and disturbing incidents the Memphis Grizzlies star has been involved with.

It wasn’t the only interview that Dan Le Batard pointed to. He noted that Pat McAfee’s interview with Aaron Rodgers may have drawn an audience of nearly half a million, but very little substance was offered.

“Does anybody in the audience, in sports fandom, or even, at this point, in sports media companies, care in a real and legitimate way whether the interview is done well or not?”

He added that the standard has changed for these interviews because the goal has changed. They are no longer about journalism as much as they are about branding, particularly in the case of ESPN’s exclusive interview with Ja Morant.

“An exclusive interview with Ja Morant, who hasn’t talked to anybody after his controversy, is going to get eyeballs, so it doesn’t matter how good it actually is,” Le Batard concluded. “All you need, if you’re the media partner, is please get me the famous guy to sit down.”

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Sports Online

Jomboy, Aaron Boone Partner For Weekly Podcast Appearance

“I thought it was a really interesting opportunity, and a cool idea. These guys have been innovators in this business and they’ve built a massive, young following.”

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It isn’t unusual for a professional sports team to partner with a local radio station for weekly interviews with team personnel. Even though Jomboy Media is a digital outlet, it didn’t stop the company from inking a deal to have Yankees manager Aaron Boone on one of its signature podcasts.

In a move announced Thursday, Jomboy Media has signed a deal for Boone to appear on its popular Talkin’ Yanks podcast — hosted by founder Jimmy O’Brien and Jake Storiale — once a week throughout the baseball season.

“I thought it was a really interesting opportunity, and a cool idea. These guys have been innovators in this business and they’ve built a massive, young following,” Boone told The New York Post. “I think Jimmy and Jake are both really good guys. And they’re passionate about what they do, and they love the Yankees. And, sometimes they’re a little misguided and it’s my chance to set the record straight every now and then.”

Previously, Boone had a weekly spot on 98.7 ESPN New York’s The Michael Kay Show, which reportedly paid him six figures.

“It’s going to be really fun and it kind of goes with the changing landscape of media,” O’Brien said. “The fact that two fans can create a show and in five years get to the point where they get to ask questions to the manager of the Yankees and bring whatever insight we can get out of that to our audience — it is pretty wild, a little surreal.”

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Sports Online

Sports Media Reacts to Aaron Rodgers Telling Adam Schefter ‘Lose My Number’

“Here are some of the best responses from Schefter’s sports media colleagues to the tweet.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Quarterback Aaron Rodgers appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday and revealed that if he gets his way, his time with the Green Bay Packers is done. He intends to play for the New York Jets in 2023.

Rodgers told McAfee that the hang-up lies with Green Bay, which is trying to determine the appropriate compensation for trading for a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Rodgers also revealed that he had an interaction with ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter. Schefter, who was obviously digging as much as he could to get the scoop on what was going on with Rodgers’ future, texted Rodgers trying to confirm the information he had.

“I didn’t respond to Dianna Russini I think her name is,” Rodgers said. “But I would say the same thing that I told Schefty. Lose my number. Nice try.”

Upon hearing Rodgers’ account, Schefter followed up with a screenshot of Rodgers responding exactly how he said, and that sent social media into a whirlwind.

Here are some of the best responses from Schefter’s sports media colleagues to the tweet:

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